Various systems, such as pick-to-order systems, may be used to fulfill complex orders in inventory storage, warehouse, shipping, or other environments. In such systems, totes, pods, or other containers may include items required to fulfill one or more orders in an order queue. Such items may be removed from the respective containers and disposed on one or more conveyors, shuttles, or other system components configured to transport the items to a desired location where the order can be further processed.
In order to optimize the use of available storage space in order fulfillment environments, it may be desirable to fill the individual containers described above to levels at or near their full capacity. However, filling the individual containers in this way may result in items being relatively tightly packed within each container, often making it difficult for automated and/or semi-automated system components to remove such items from the containers. Such difficulty may slow the order fulfilment process and reduce overall system efficiency.